In message
Peter Clinch wrote:

Mike Clark wrote:

I've been using an analogue Ortovox F1 or F1 focus for all the years
that I've been ski-touring. If I was buying new transceiver today I'd
probably consider a digital or a combined digital/analogue device but I
recognise that if I did buy a different model I'd probably have to put
in extra hours next season in familiarising myself with it.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if you're better with a pinger than I
am. I've only had one about 5 years and could do with more practice
than I get. After a brief look at Trackers I'd guess that getting up
to speed with one would take me no more time, and possibly less, than
getting tuned back in to using my Pieps.

I've got friends who are quite devious in these practice sessions.
They might deliberately bury the device under, or to one side of a rock
or other object, or they might bury two transceivers close together but
at completely different orienatations. You start to realise that even
the digital devices can give misleading information under circumstances.

[snip]
practice. Whilst the newer digital models do make it slightly easier to
carry out searches for multiple buried transmitters, there are
appropriate methods for using analogue devices that will be perfectly
adequate, you just need to know what works well for your own device.
When I've practised alongside my friends some of whom use digital
transceivers there hasn't been a consistent or noticeable difference in
our individual effectiveness in finding single or multiple burials.

Though I am mindful that practice sessions aren't really very much like
the real thing could well be. It's all very calm and controlled in a
safe place and you haven't got friends buried somewhere nearby that may
be dead or dying. Anything that does my mental work for me in such a
situation could well make a useful difference, though I'd like to never
find out...

For the group of friends I regularly go with I already know from
experience that they cope well in adverse conditions. We've been
rock-climbing, caving, and mountaineering together as well as
ski-touring for many years. In that time we've been confronted with
several immediate life threatening situations. For example I broke
through into a crevasse during a ski tour in bad weather and snow
conditions. My wife and friends didn't panic even though they couldn't
see or hear me. They quickly and efficiently rigged up a rope system and
the result was found that I was OK and got me out safely. On another
occassion we were cut-off by a big avalanche in white-out conditions and
had to make the decision to snow-hole. Again everyone got on efficiently
with the task in hand. I've also witnessed people caught up in
local terrain trap avalanches from close up so have experience of what
to expect and what to do.


For most skiers like myself the key thing as has been pointed out
earlier in the thread is to minimise exposure to risk by becoming
aware of the dangers. Carrying a transceiver and shovel should be
regarded as a default for any serious off-piste or ski-tour, but
it's important not to risk compensate by believing it will
definitely offer a great deal of protection.

As Booker has suggested, this is much easier said than done. From the
examples on the roads we know very well that risk homeostasis happens to
people who think it isn't happening to them.


I agree, as a cyclist and driver I am aware of risk compensation and as
you say it is difficult not to. However simply recognising that risk
compensation is a real phenomena is a first step.

Number one priority is to avoid the avalanche in the first place.

For some values of "number one priority". It's very easy to avoid
avalanches... you just don't go to snowy mountains, but you've already
ignored the best piece of avalanche avoidance advice there is if you're
on an off-piste mountain ski tour, so clearly you're drawing arbitrary
lines somewhere.


Agreed.

Mike
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
" || _`\,_ |__\ \ | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"